


A Target No One Else Can See

by lookupkate



Category: Original Work
Genre: M/M, Opposites Attract, Teachers in love, grumpy bastard Palmer, ray of sunshine Richard
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-26
Packaged: 2018-04-20 16:04:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4793765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookupkate/pseuds/lookupkate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ry Palmer is transferred to a new school he finds his new partner to be the exact type of teacher he hates. He's charismatic and kind and dripping with a sort of mirth that has to be false. And that right there makes him the one thing Palmer can't stand; a liar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Dick

**Author's Note:**

  * For [](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts), [yarnjunkie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yarnjunkie/gifts).



He'd always been rather annoyed by the popular teacher. They'd been round his entire school career, every student but him caught in their pull. He found it pathetic, a sign of poor character; who needed the attention of children to bolster their opinion of themselves?

He thought, perhaps bitterly, that each charismatic teacher or school counselor he'd encountered had completely ignored the fact that he was in no way enamored. It would have been nice, if only the once, to have been acknowledged as the outlier. He supposed he still longed to be seen as the strange child who didn't fall for those sorts of tricks.

Bowl of sweets, casual dress day, first name basis, it was all a ploy. He would sit in the front row and answer all the questions and that would be enough, their affection was never anything he really needed. 

So when he was transferred, that first day he found himself coming in from the rain to a lecture hall full of students with ears pricked and eyes alight, you could imagine how he felt about the man stood in front of them. 

_____

"You must be Palmer," the other teacher said, his words and eyes shifting the attention of the great group quite suddenly and making Palmer's stomach lurch as if he's just gone over an unseen rock in the road, "I'm Richard."

"Didn't mean to interrupt," Palmer replied with a false smile, "the weather's just gone a bit rough and I was getting soaked."

"Not a bother," Richard said, warm smile pulling a few students eyes back as he walked forward, the crowd parting like the Red Sea, "we were just finishing up here."

Palmer let the man approach and take his bag so he could slip out of his overcoat, the horrid thing weighing four times as much with the amount of water it had managed to absorb on the short walk from the bus to the classroom door.

"I'll see you lot tomorrow," Richard said without taking his eyes from Palmer's. "Don't forget to do your reading."

The students mumbled and left the hall quickly, watching the way the two men were facing each other curiously. When they were finally gone Richard took the coat from Palmer's cramping fingers and walked it over to an old fashioned heater underneath a large window.

"Is Palmer alright or would you rather I call you something different?" Richard asked as he arranged the tweed so it dripped on the warn carpet instead of the wood.

"Would you rather I call you Dick?" Palmer asked, the bite in his words obvious even as he tried to understand why it was there.

Richard turned slowly and hooked his thumbs under his jacket and rested his hands on his hips with a deep breath. "Well, my first name is David and the shortened version is usually Dave, but if you're quite set on Dick I suppose I could adjust. Don't think it would go over well with my mum, though, she is the one that named me, after all. It was her father's name. David, not Dick."

Palmer swallowed roughly as he felt a warmth spread up his cheeks and to the tips of his ears. Richard smiled at last and Palmer sighed internally. Bastard.

"You're as accommodating as I was told to expect, no wonder the children like you," Palmer replied as he went to the front of the room to look out over the seats. 

"You'd better not let them hear you call them that. Thirteen is hardly childhood," Richard said, head falling to the side to watch the peculiar man.

"Ah, adolescence, the next best thing to adulthood," Palmer mumbled.

"They sure think so," Richard replied. "Adulthood gets a better rep than it should, if you ask me."

"Then perhaps I'll call you Peter," Palmer quipped, looking to Richard quickly.

"Pan?" Richard asked. "Hardly. I'd pick adulthood over adolescence any day. Doesn't mean I have to like it." 

The bell rang, a loud, jarring sound, and Richard shook himself from whatever suspended moment they'd been in and walked to the front of the class.

"Let's spar later, shall we?" He asked as he drew near. "Over drinks?"

"You're old enough to drink?" Palmer shot back.

"As long as you're old enough to buy," Richard replied with a teasing smile.

Palmer wrinkled his nose as the students started to trickle in and nodded once, to Richard's surprise. It looked like he would have the chance to win the grumpy bastard over after all.

"Alright, class, I'd like to introduce you to our new pianist. He hails from just down the road and I want you all to welcome him with a warm round of applause," Richard said.

The classroom cheered and Palmer took a seat at the piano with a sigh. Once again, bloody three ring circus.


	2. Wine And A Warm Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys go out to the pub.

Richard was looking at Palmer over a whiskey, a small smile working its way onto his face. He was more than a little charmed by the man and though he tried to keep the feeling at bay it doubtless leaked out a little around the edges. Palmer was looking back at him while slowly sipping a lager, seeing the silence between them as a game of chicken he was intent on winning. After a long while Richard raised his hand to get the bar staff to bring him another drink and pulled his wallet from his pocket.

"Truth or dare," he said as he passed a bill to the waiter and took a sip of his new drink.

"Don't be silly," Palmer scoffed.

"And why the hell not?" Richard asked with a chuckle.

"Because unlike our students we are both in our late thirties and should act as such," Palmer replied quickly, looking down into his pint glass and pushing his glasses up a bit.

"Why? Come on, Mr know-it-all, tell me why. Give me one good reason why we should act like adults and I'll concede," Richard pressed.

"Because this type of joking around only gets people into trouble. You want me to show my hand? Fine. I'm here because the funding for the arts programme at my last school fell through. I'm single for reasons I'm not quite sure of. When I was young I wanted to be in a band," Palmer noted quickly before crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat.

Richard laughed in surprise and leaned closer, elbows on the table. "What are you so cross about that you won't have a little fun?"

"Perhaps it's that people assume that truth or dare would be fun for me," Palmer shot back.

It took some steam out of Richard and Palmer looked guiltily into his pint.

"I apologize if I-" Richard started.

"Truth or dare?" Palmer choked out before finishing his pint and reaching across the table to down the rest of his drinking partner's whiskey.

Richard laughed nervously and licked his bottom lip before nodding. "Truth."

"Do you want to get out of here?" Palmer asked.

Richard swallowed and nodded again.

"Thank god," Palmer murmured as he stood and made his way to the front door.

Richard stood and followed him, nodding to the barmaid and grabbing his umbrella from the hat rack. By the time he had caught up to Palmer the taller of the two was pulling a crushed pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and trying to light one with a damp book of matches. Richard held the umbrella over them both and used his mobile to light up Palmer's hands. A better strike with one of the drier matches and Richard took in a deep breath as Palmer lit the cigarette and drew deeply.

"Want one?" Palmer asked as he led the way to the main road and looked for a cab.

"Don't smoke," Richard replied.

"Then what on earth do you do for fun?" Palmer asked, the whiskey and cigarette seeming to calm him a bit as mischief slipped into his dark eyes.

"Try to get people I barely know to play party games, and fail miserably," Richard replied.

"You really need to get out more if you think that's fun," Palmer prodded as he stepped from the kerb and waved down a cab.

"I usually have school in the mornings," Richard said, following Palmer with his umbrella and then hoping into the street himself.

"And I'm usually the one full of excuses," Palmer replied, crushing his cigarette beneath his shoe and opening the cab door for the man. "Hurry up, then, we haven't got all night."

Richard laughed and ducked in, collapsing the umbrella and laying it at his feet. Palmer joined him soon after and brushed some rain from his shoulders as he gave the driver the address. Richard really didn't know what to say, his last attempt going so horribly, so he sat with his hands in his lap and looked out the window.

"Have I finally found your off button?" Palmer asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't really know what to say, is all," Richard admitted.

"Oh, for Christ's sake, ask away. It's your turn, after all," Palmer said with a false exasperated sigh.

Richard grinned and wrung his hands, eyes alight with sudden mischief.

"Bloody hell, I've got myself in above my head, haven't I?" Palmer asked as the cab pulled to the kerb. "We might as well take this inside."

Richard payed the cabbie and ran through the rain to the stoop where Palmer was fiddling with his keys. They made it in and up to the first storey and Palmer let them inside. The flat was fairly big and cheery, the bright wallpaper seeming to clash with Palmer's abrasive attitude. There were boxes all around, a large sofa, three arm chairs and a piano in the corner. Palmer turned on some more lights and went to start a fire as Richard looked around a bit.

'He would,' Palmer thought, 'be incessantly curious.' 

"Truth or dare?" Richard asked, coming up behind Palmer and taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"Truth, I suppose," Palmer replied.

"Have you, um..." Richard tried nervously, swallowing audibly and failing to go on.

Palmer's cheeks flushed and he choked out, "go on, then," remembering the sorts of questions that were asked in uni.

"Have you always been such a gloomy chap?" Richard asked finally, stuffing down on a laugh and grinning.

"Yes, have you always been so needlessly happy?" Palmer shot back.

"Is that your turn, then?" Richard asked.

"I suppose it is," Palmer conceded.

"There's a lot to be happy about," Richard said with a soft smile. "I've got my dream job. The salary isn't bad. I've got my parents and good friends. And now I've got a pianist."

"And you've charmed a bunch of children," Palmer added.

"Don't be so cynical. I encourage them when barely anyone else does. I see the potential in them and bring it out. I like my job," Richard replied honestly. "Do you hate teenagers, or something?"

"Not as such. They never like me," Palmer said as he stood, closing the grate and heading to the kitchen to find them some wine and glasses.

"But you want them to," Richard replied.

Palmer shrugged and sat across from Richard.

"You do have a heart under all that gruffness," Richard teased.

"Yes, well, I'm perfectly fine not being liked. I suppose it's my lot in life," Palmer said as he poured them each a healthy glass and handed one across.

Richard took the glass and held it between his hands. "I like you," he said softly.

"You barely know me," Palmer replied.

"Yes, well, maybe that's why I like you," Richard said teasingly.

Palmer took a long sip of his wine and looked to be thinking he swallowed and sat forward, the movement pushing him into Richards space only minutely. The change was felt none the less.

"I don't think so. People usually dislike me right off," Palmer admitted. "Perhaps you're just attracted to the gloomy sort."

Richard choked a bit on his wine and Palmer added, quickly, "have a lot of grumpy friends?"

"Oh, um, no," Richard replied. "I do appreciate some Poe from time to time, though."

"From time to time? Well, I'm sure I'll wear you down in no time. I'm this way constantly, you see."

"And by this way you mean conversational and accommodating? Wine and a warm fire? You're right, you're horrid," Richard said with a small smile.

Palmer rolled his eyes and sighed the sigh of a man relaxing for the first time in a very long while.


End file.
